‘Families Need Fathers’ launch new website

Laura Sturrock

The charity Families Need Fathers (FNF) Scotland has launched a new website to raise awareness of the benefits of parents sharing the care of their children after they separate.

FNF Scotland hopes the website will support its case for prioritising shared parenting during the review of Scots family law which is expected to happen in 2018.

FNF Scotland national manager, Ian Maxwell, said: “The realities of family life in Scotland have transformed in recent decades for a host of political, social, cultural and economic reasons.

“As more mothers are active in the workplace so parenting roles at home have evolved. Parents expect more of each other and children expect more of both.

“Yet in Scotland when a relationship breaks down there is a presumption of one ‘main’ parent and a ‘visitor’.

“Lip service is paid to encouraging parents to negotiate suitable arrangements for caring for their children after separation.

“But everyone knows if they don’t agree the failsafe position will revert to the adversarial approach with one parent winning time with his/her children by criticising the other.

“The system of child benefit and support also creates a financial disincentive to the current ‘main’ parent to share parenting even if s/he accepts that the children would benefit from spending more time with the other.”

FNF Scotland says research from around the world shows that children benefit in most areas of their emotional and psychological wellbeing when they spend as near as possible to equal time with both their parents.

The charity also says that shared parenting liberates both parents from gender stereotypes.